• Italian High
    We thought this was going to be a 2 hr ride through the villages. We were very wrong.
    We would end up at the top of a ski runThe skies had teased us with the promise of perfect weather for our rideWe loaded with swanky protein wondering why Manuela thought we'd need a rest after a town rideWe met our guide, Andre, and were soon fitted out ready to goAndre put us through our paces, & despite his better judgement, decided to take us up the mountain.We began with a long gentle descent to a river which we would follow to tomorrow's starting pointThe river glistened in the soft sunshinePast the happy horses who pull the skiers along in the winterThrough the woods1Through a few little townsWe were still in our comfort zone enjoying the view and getting our groove onAndre then stopped to ask us about single track ridingWith the loose gravel and the edge we suggested single track walkingAnd now began the climbIt's all smiles here but later it was steep & slippery with grooves that caused a few tumblesDid I mention smiles?The hills and scattered huts and flowers were simply beautifulThis is one of Bel's, obviously1The vista reminded Richard of a screensaver from Windows 2000Lunch was local fare in Rifugio Bioche2The sky gods were angered by Richard comparing the mountain to a screensaverSuddenly things were serious as we had to race the rain down a very technical routeWe made it home wet and happy but not drenched.

    Kings of the Mountain

    June 29 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    We all earned our polka dot jerseys today with a massive 43k ride to the iconic summit cross atop the Störes hill on the Pralongiá High Plateau. The elevation gain for our trip was 1100m and earned me all sorts of PBs on Strava. It was a massive return on investment for Richard and Ali who had been HIIT-style bike training for weeks with this ride in mind. They came away with quads intact and ready to take on tomorrow's multi-day hike.Read more